Datafile Needs Recovery

When there is a disk read/write problem, such as adapter issues connecting SAN luns to server or other server IO problems, Oracle data files may fail to get checkpoint. In this case, Oracle may place the datafile offline and write errors to the alert log:

Errors in file /u01/app/oracle/admin/dw/bdump/dw_ckpt_1081360.trc:
ORA-01171: datafile 7 going offline due to error advancing checkpoint
ORA-01110: data file 7 : '/u06/app/oracle/oradata/dw/dw_idx01.dbf'
ORA-01115: IO error reading block from file 7 (block # 1)
ORA-27063: number of bytes read/written is incorrect
IBM AIX RISC System/6000 Error: 5: I/O error
Additional information: -1
Additional information: 16384

Database view DBA_DATA_FILES will confirm that the datafile needs recovery:

SQL> select * from dba_data_files
where online_status != 'ONLINE';

FILE_NAME ONLINE_STATUS
/u06/app/oracle/oradata/dw/dw_idx01.dbf RECOVER
/u02/app/oracle/oradata/dw/system01.dbf SYSTEM

The fix to the problem is to run two "alter database ..." commands to bring the data file back online, after the disk IO issue has been firmly resolved. Here is the alert log when the two commands ran:

Fri May 7 23:25:30 2010
alter database recover datafile '/u06/app/oracle/oradata/dw/dw_idx01.dbf'
Fri May 7 23:25:30 2010
Media Recovery Start
parallel recovery started with 7 processes
Fri May 7 23:25:31 2010
Recovery of Online Redo Log: Thread 1 Group 2 Seq 70541 Reading mem 0
Mem# 0: /u03/app/oracle/oradata/dw/redo02a.log
Mem# 1: /u03/app/oracle/oradata/dw/redo02b.log
Fri May 7 23:25:34 2010
Recovery of Online Redo Log: Thread 1 Group 3 Seq 70542 Reading mem 0
Mem# 0: /u04/app/oracle/oradata/dw/redo03a.log
Mem# 1: /u04/app/oracle/oradata/dw/redo03b.log
Fri May 7 23:25:36 2010
Media Recovery Complete (dw)
Completed: alter database recover datafile '/u06/app/oracle/oradata/dw/dw_idx01.dbf'

Fri May 7 23:26:07 2010
alter database datafile '/u06/app/oracle/oradata/dw/dw_idx01.dbf' online
Fri May 7 23:26:07 2010
Starting control autobackup
Control autobackup written to DISK device
handle '/u01/app/oracle/product/10.2.0/db_1/dbs/c-1219972149-20100507-02'
Completed: alter database datafile '/u06/app/oracle/oradata/dw/dw_idx01.dbf' online

Install Oracle Fusion Middleware 11gR1

Oracle Fusion Middleware expands Oracle Applications Server 10g to include more components that you may never need.

I studies the way of installing Oracle Dsicoverer 11.1.1 for Oracle E-business Realease 12 (1074326.1). Here are some key steps to make the installation work.

1. Indentify the installation files from download.

As of today 5/14/10, the location is
http://www.oracle.com/technology/software/products/middleware/htdocs/fmw_11_download.html

This page also has a link to downlaod WebLogic
http://www.oracle.com/technology/software/products/ias/htdocs/wls_main.html

File names in three areas:

- Repository Creation Utility (RCU, 11.1.1.2.1)
ofm_rcu_linux_11.1.1.2.1_disk1_1of1.zip

- Weblogic server (10.3.2)
wls1032_generic.jar

- Portal, Forms, Reports and Discoverer (11.1.1.2.0)
ofm_pfrd_linux_11.1.1.2.0_64_disk1_1of1.zip
ofm_pfrd_linux_11.1.1.2.0_64_disk2_1of1.zip
ofm_pfrd_linux_11.1.1.2.0_64_disk3_1of1.zip
ofm_pfrd_linux_11.1.1.2.0_64_disk4_1of1.zip

2. Need a database for repository

The supported database versions by Oracle Fusion Middleware 11gR1 are

Oracle 10.2.0.4+ (if it's a 10g)
Oracle 11.1.0.7+ (if it's an 11gR1)
Oracle 11.2.0.1+ (if it's an 11gR2)

3. Create repository schemas

Run RCU to install schemas for Oracle Portal and Oracle Discoverer. RCU only works on Linux platform. If the database is on other platforms, run RCU remotely connecting to the database.

4. Install WebLogic server

Run the .jar file to create new Middleware Home directory. Java must be available (by the PATH env variable) for the installtion, and its version must be high enough. Here is the way to check Java version:

$ ./java -version
java version "1.6.0_20"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.6.0_20-b02)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 16.3-b01, mixed mode)

5. Install Oracle Portal, Forms, Reports and Discoverer

Following guid has screenshots on installation:

Installation Guide for Oracle Portal, Forms, Reports and Discoverer
11g Release 1 (11.1.1) E10421-02